See No Evil, Hear No Evil
by hadesgirl015
Summary: One misplaced bomb was all that it took. A mission gone wrong. Now, Kanan and Ezra struggle even harder to train and communicate.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Mission

"Sabine, you'll place bombs here, here, here, and here." Hera instructed.

"Got it," Sabine replied.

"Ezra, you part is to get in there, get the Intel, and get out, quickly and silently." Hera continued.

"Alright," Ezra responded. He knew it would be harder than it used to be. When he first joined the crew he could crawl through the vents quite easily, but that was three years ago. Since then, under the crew's care, especially Hera's, he finally got the proper nutrition; he had grown several inches and put on a healthy amount of weight. While that was nice, he no longer could fit in the ventilation system of most star cruisers and buildings.

"Everybody know their part?" Hera asked.

"Yes," the rest of the crew replied.

"Alright, we'll be there in half an hour, get prepared." Hera instructed.

Ezra stood there, watching the rest of the crew slowly leave the common room. Hera went back to the cockpit for obvious reasons, Chopper following behind her. Sabine headed back in the direction of her cabin, supposedly to prep her bombs. Zeb left to go grab his weapon, so it was just Kanan and Ezra left.

"Are you ready?" Kanan asked, not quite looking in Ezra's direction. While it saddened him slightly that Kanan couldn't meet his gaze, he had gotten somewhat used to it over time.

"Yeah," Ezra replied. "I got my lightsaber and my blaster, so I'm good to go."

"Did you study the map precisely so you know the best way to get into the office?" Kanan asked.

"I suppose I could do that now." Ezra responded, rubbing the back of his neck.

Kanan smirked. He heard Ezra start the map up again and begin trying to figure out the best path to take.

"I think I figured it out." Ezra said.

"Good," Kanan smiled. "But do you have a back-up plan, in case this one doesn't work out."

"Nah, I won't need one." Ezra denied. "This one is foolproof."

Kanan raised an eyebrow underneath his mask, "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Ezra replied, voice full of confidence.

The plan wasn't foolproof. Ezra wasn't counting on an alarm going off after he took the intel off the database.

"Specter 6 you better get out of there." Kanan warned over the comm.

"Yeah Specter 1," Ezra agreed. "I'm on my way back." He started running down his chosen path, but right before he turned he heard stormtroopers. "Guess I have to wing a different path."

Instead of turning he went straight.

"Specter 6 where are you?" Kanan asked over the comm.

"I had to go a different way, there were bucket heads." Ezra informed. "I think I'm nearly back to the hanger."

"Well hurry the bombs are going to go off soon." Hera warned.

"Wait, Specter 6, which direction are you coming from?" Sabine asked.

"From the West." Ezra answered.

"Karabast!" Sabine swore.

"I can see the hanger bay now." Ezra replied.

"Ezra, get out of there now!" Sabine yelled. "A bomb is about to—" the rest of her warning was cut off by the explosion.

The bomb blew up feet away from Ezra. Ezra registered pain, then nothing as he passed out.

"Specter 6?" Kanan called over the comm. "Specter 6 respond." He grew steadily more worried. "Ezra pick up."

"Specter 4 do you see him?" Hera asked.

"Yeah I see the kid." Zeb responded. He ran over to the teen's motionless body. "He's alive,"

Relief swam through Kanan's body.

"Just passed out." Zeb continued. He picked up Ezra and quickly carried him back to the Ghost.

"Bring him to the medbay. If it's really bad we can take him to the med-wing at the base." Hera ordered.

Zeb laid Ezra down gently on the bed and started looking him over. The blast had torn and burned through his clothing slightly. There were some minor burns on his arms, and a bit on his neck. But what made Zeb a bit concerned and confused was the blood that was slowly flowing from his ears.

"How bad is it?" Kanan asked coming in.

"A few minor burns on his arms and neck that I think will heal in only a few days with bacta. But there is blood coming from ears." Zeb informed.

"That can't be good," Kanan grimaced.

"I'm sure the kit will be fine." Zeb reassured.

Once they arrived back at the base they went ahead and brought Ezra to the med-wing to make sure nothing was too bad.

Kanan and Hera waited out in the waiting room while a medic and med-droid looked Ezra over.

"I'm sure he's going to be alright love." Hera reassured.

"Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla?" the medic came into the waiting room.

"Yes," Hera responded.

"How bad is it?" Kanan asked.

The medic sighed.

Ezra wasn't sure exactly when he came back to. He opened his eyes, but he immediately closed them again due to the blindly light. He slowly opened them and adjusted to the light. He found that he was in the med-wing back on the base, he let out a sigh of relief.

The med-wing in question was strangely silent. Even when there were no patients there were normally machines and droids active that made whirring and beeping sounds.

He looked over to his right and saw Kanan, sitting in the chair, a worried expression etched on his face. He smiled. Then he saw Hera right by him.

Hera gained a surprised look on her face as she noticed that Ezra was awake. She shook Kanan's shoulder and said, something. For some reason Ezra couldn't hear her. He saw her lips moving but couldn't hear what she said.

Kanan looked in his direction, and it happened again. Kanan said something, but Ezra couldn't hear him.

"I can't hear you." Ezra said.

Confusion filled him. He could have sworn the words passed his lips, but didn't hear himself.

Kanan's lips moved again.

"Kanan I can't hear you." Ezra repeated.

Confusion was replaced by panic as he realized what happened. He realized why the med-wing was so silent. Why he couldn't hear what Kanan and Hera were saying even though he saw their lips moving. Why he couldn't even himself even though he was positive he spoke. The explosion had caused him to go deaf.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Recovery

Ezra was sobbing through his panic. He could feel the tears coming down his face and feel is body shaking with each sob. He couldn't even hear himself sob.

Ezra felt arms wrap around him and start to rock him gently, finger combing through his hair.

He looked up and meet Kanan's blank gaze. He felt a gentle push on his mind. Lowering his mental shields, he felt Kanan sending him reassurance and calming silent messages through their bond via the Force.

Ezra bit his lip for a moment, took a deep breath and calmed down.

Once he finished he used the heel of his hand to wipe away the tears. Hera handed him a datapad with a gently smile.

'Ezra, the blast from the bomb burst both your eardrums. The medics say there is nothing they can do. Any surgery that could help is too advanced for what they are capable of. We also don't have the capabilities of giving you any type of hearing aid that can help. Sorry sweetie, you're going to be deaf until circumstances change.'

Ezra read the note. He closed his eyes. He couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it. "How will we be able to communicate?" He asked, at least that's what he meant to say. He hoped he said it. He couldn't tell if he was speaking clearly enough to be understood. He couldn't even tell if he was using an appropriate volume.

Hera responded by taking the datapad from his hands and typing something else.

'You can still speak pretty well.' Hera's message started with reassurance. 'Sabine and I are going to work on teaching you sign language. But until then we'll type whatever needs to be said. You may even pick up on lip reading.'

He thought this through, but uncertainty filled his mind. Even if he got the hang of sign language, Chopper obviously didn't have hands, Zeb's hands probably didn't really have the capabilities to perform around 80% of the signs, and how would Kanan even be able to do it if he can't see to learn it. In fact, how could Kanan even type out what he wanted to say, it's not like the datapad had clear buttons that you can feel.

"What about Kanan?" Ezra asked. "He can't really type, and then he can't see to learn the signs. And Zeb, with his hands he probably can't give clear signs."

Kanan, hearing his Padawan's concern rubbed his back and sent comfort through the bond. Ezra figured this was him say, 'It will be okay,'

'We'll work it out.' Hera typed. 'For right now the medics want to keep you one more night to observe. Make sure the blast didn't cause anymore damage.'

Ezra nodded in understanding.

'We'll be back soon. We're going to tell the others that you're okay.' Hera's final message read.

"Relatively," Ezra muttered.

The word wasn't quite clear enough for Hera and Kanan to make out, but given the context of the situation they had a good idea.

Kanan got up and gave Ezra a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.

The two leaders of his crew left the room, leaving Ezra alone in the silent room. Granted it probably wasn't totally silent, but it was to him. Luckily, Hera left the datapad so a nurse could talk to him if need be. He grabbed it and glanced on it. It appeared that Hera also took the liberty of downloading a couple of novels and even an old holoshow that he had gotten into, not that he could watch it anymore.

Ezra was in the middle of reading when an arm suddenly crossed in front of his chest. He jumped in surprise. He looked and saw it was one of the medics, Dr. Mallory. She gave an apologetic smile. Ezra figured she was probably just checking his vitals, so he allowed her to do her job.

She motioned for the datapad, which he handed over.

'How are you feeling?' Dr. Mallory had typed.

"Physically, alright. Just a small headache." Ezra replied.

'What about emotionally or mentally?' Dr. Mallory asked.

"Still pretty shaken up." Ezra answered. "I don't want to believe this is happening."

'Could you repeat that?' Dr. Mallory typed.

Ezra silently sighed, he figured he didn't speak clear enough, so he carefully repeated himself. Dr. Mallory nodded in understanding before finishing checking his vitals.

'I want to check your inner ear, so please get up and walk around a bit.' Dr. Mallory requested.

Ezra moved the blanket off his body and stood up. He wobbled a bit for a moment, before he regained his balance and could stand and walk normally. He glanced at the medic and she motioned that he could sit back down. After she left Ezra looked through the datapad. He sighed. He really wished he could watch that show, as it would sure kill time, but if he couldn't hear it what was the point.

He selected it anyways and saw the options menu by the episode select. He never noticed that before. Audio and subtitles was the choice under the options. A smile grew on his face, he selected it and was thankfully able to watch his show. Slightly annoyed that he had to read what the characters were say instead of listening to them, but it was better than nothing he supposed.

Kanan came back a few hours later with some food.

"Thanks," Ezra said.

Kanan smiled and ruffled the teen's hair as he started to eat.

"Everything just seems so different." Ezra admitted. "It's so silent it's nearly maddening."

Kanan put a reassuring grip on Ezra's shoulder. He gave Ezra a gentle smile that conveyed, 'Everything is going to be alright.'

"I'm, I'm gonna miss hearing your voice." Ezra added. "I guess I sort of know how you feel like. You probably miss seeing us."

Kanan let out a chuckle, not that Ezra could hear it. "Yeah, kid, I do."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Home Again

*note I'm basing their sign language off of American Sign Language.

Ezra woke up that morning with someone shaking his shoulder. He startled awake and looked over to see who it was.

"Morning Kanan." Ezra said, rubbing his eyes.

Kanan returned his greeting with a smile.

"Do I get to come back?" Ezra asked. He really hoped he was using an appropriate volume.

Kanan nodded and handed Ezra a clean pair of clothes to change into. Ezra took them and started to get up and thought about where to change, before he thought for a moment. He looked around and saw that Kanan was the only other person in the med bay. He could just change there, Kanan couldn't see him. He started to change out of the medical garments and put on his clothes. It was nice to be back in his normal clothes.

"Ready?" Kanan asked. At least that's what Ezra thought he said.

"Did you ask if I was ready?" Ezra asked.

Kanan nodded with a smile.

Ezra smiled that he had successfully sort of lip read what Kanan had said. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Kanan did a 'come on' motion with his hand. Ezra ran up to him and grabbed his arm and they walked out of medical wing.

It was so weird walking through the main part of the base, seeing the hustle and bustle but not being able to hear it. He wondered what it was like for Kanan, to not to be able to see it, but be able to hear it.

Once they reached the Ghost, Ezra was greeted by Hera. She gently took the datapad that Ezra held before typing out a message and handing it back to him.

'Do you want to start learning GBSL right now? Or do you want to wait till tomorrow?'

Ezra made a confused face. "What's that?"

Hera smiled and typed out her answer. 'Galactic Basic Sign Language.'

"Oh," Ezra replied. "Okay."

Hera smiled, and gently pulled him towards the common room. Sabine was sitting there waiting as well.

Ezra smiled in greeting, but Sabine didn't return it.

Hera started up another datapad. Pictured on it was several pictures of hands with a letter underneath.

'This is the alphabet.' Hera typed on the original datapad. 'I figured it would be best start with this.'

Ezra nodded in response.

Hera started going through the alphabet slowly, Ezra coping the hand sign as she did it, as did Sabine.

'I'm going to try to spell something out now. I want you to try to figure out what.' Hera typed.

Ezra nodded.

Hera made a four signs. The first she bent her fingers halfway down towards her palm, and her thumb was bent across her palm. The second she used her index finger to draw a zig-zag in the air. The third she crossed her index and middle finger while holding the other two down with her thumb. Lastly she put all her fingers into a fist, but left her thumb along the side of her hand.

Ezra smiled, Hera had spelled out his name. He was about to reply so, but he wanted to try something. He attempted to spell out, 'my name.' He placed all his fingers down and stuck his thumb between his ring and pinky, then he put his pinky and thumb up, leaving the rest down. He lowered his hand for a moment, trying to single a new word. Then he placed all his finger down again, sticking his thumb between his ring and middle finger, then moved his thumb to rest beside his fist, afterwards he did his first sign again. Lastly he did Hera's first sign.

Hera gave him the biggest smile. 'Great job.' Hera typed on the datapad. 'I did spell out your name and you did a great job on spelling out your response.

Hera tested him by going through the crew's and other members of the rebellion's names. She also tested Sabine, and she was picking it up just as quickly.

'I think that is enough for the day.' Hera typed. 'If you want to look at some of the basic signs by yourself you can.'

Ezra nodded. He started to head towards his shared cabin.

Ezra opened the door.

Zeb turned and without thinking yelled something.

Ezra looked confused. He had absolutely no idea what his roommate could have said.

Zeb seemed to come to his senses and gave an apologetic look. Ezra offered him the datapad to type out what he had said.

'I said, 'don't you knock,' I forgot.'

"It's alright." Ezra replied. "But knocking is sort of pointless unless the person would answer the door."

Zeb smiled. Ezra climbed up on his bunk and activated the GBSL dictionary on the datapad. He turned to 'First Words.' Words like family members, eat, drink, yes, and no. He started practicing the signs. Suddenly the door opened and Hera stood in the door way. He realized she had probably knocked and Zeb told her to come in.

He glanced at the time near the top of the datapad and saw that it was around lunch time.

He turned to her and did the sign for 'eat.'

Hera looked shocked for a moment, like she hadn't expected him to look at more sign language. She then smiled and nodded, along with making a knocking motion, the sign for yes.

Ezra slid down his ladder and headed towards the common room.

When he saw Chopper he saw that a small screen had been attached to him. He leaned down and examined it. Words started to fill the screen. 'Sabine attached this to me. It translates binary into written text so you can know what I say, since your ears are broken.'

Ezra gave a light laugh at the way the droid phrased how he was now deaf. "Cool."

Ezra sat down at the table and Hera placed a bowl of pasta next to him. He responded by placing a flat hand against his lips and lowering it in an arch—the sign for 'thanks.'

Hera smiled. She started talking with Kanan. Knowing that he couldn't understand what they are saying anyways he just focused on eating.

"Is he picking it up?" Kanan asked.

"Remarkably fast. He already knows the alphabet and some basic signs like 'eat' and 'thanks' and probably some others." Hera replied. "The only question is if he will remember them. Even if you know them you can sometimes forget."

"Maybe you could teach me some." Kanan suggested. "I obviously wouldn't know what he was saying if he was signing, but it might be good to know some incase I need to talk to him."

"That might be a little hard." Hera responded.

"It can always wait." Kanan reassured. "For right now, Sato is trying to find a datapad that does voice to text for me so I can just say what I need to say and Ezra can read it."

Ezra glanced back up at Hera and Kanan. He really wished he knew what they were talking about. Some tears sprang to his eyes. He tried to remember what their voices sounded like, what was the last things he actually heard them say. Kanan had asked him where he was and Hera had warned him about the bombs going off soon. Those stupid bombs. Those stupid Imperials that forced him to go that way. Tears started running heavily down his cheeks.

He felt arms wrap around him. He tried to whip the tears away. It was stupid to cry over this. A pair of hands stopped his attempt.

The force around him was filled with care and comfort. He looked up and saw Kanan, he was moving his lips but Ezra didn't know, he couldn't know what he had said.

"I don't know what you're saying." Ezra muttered. "I don't know and it's killing me."

He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw Hera with the datapad.

'Kanan says 'it's okay to cry. You aren't week for doing so. This is a difficult time for all of us, especially you. You have to adapt to so much. It's okay if you need to cry about it.'

Ezra nodded and buried his face into Kanan's chest. Kanan offered Ezra all the comfort he needed.

"I'll always be here for you Ezra." Kanan promised, even though Ezra couldn't hear him. "Whenever you need a shoulder to cry on, I'll be there for you. We'll get through this together."


End file.
